This invention relates to an improved machine-readable non-scored ballot card.
It is well known to provide pre-scored ballot cards for use in conducting an election. Such ballot cards are inserted into a vote recorder and punched by an appropriate stylus to record voting choices. The perforated scores in such ballot cards facilitate hand punching by the voters. Typical examples of such prior art are disclosed in Harris U.S. Pat. No. 3,240,409, Laws U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,257 and Ahmann U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,566. While vote recorders of that particular type are relatively easy to operate, they have a disadvantage in that non-separated "chad" sometimes hangs from the edges of the punched openings. This causes tally errors during the vote tabulation process.
One way of avoiding the chad problem is to use non-scored ballot cards in a vote recorder holder such as a vote recorder of the type described in Stephens et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,034. Such a vote recorder may have a housing, a base member mounted to the housing, a resilient mat member mounted to the base member, a lower anvil mounted to the base member adjacent the mat member, an intermediate template member spaced apart from and fixedly mounted to the base member and a slidably mounted upper mask member. The template member has a pattern of guide channels or openings which are in registration with a similar pattern of punch openings in the anvil member. Each punch opening in turn is in registration with a corresponding pair of criss-crossed slits in the mat member. Also, the mask member is provided with a pattern of openings which match the patterns of openings in the template member and the anvil member. However the openings in the mask member are normally out of registration with the other sets of openings, so the mask member normally blocks access to the punch plate. When a ballot card is inserted into the apparatus, the upper mask member is moved from its normal position into an operating position wherein its openings are in registration with the openings in the other members. The ballot card is provided with a pair of registration apertures which are fitted over a pair of card registration pins to lock the card in its fully inserted position. This enables a punch to be inserted through the mask plate, along a guide channel and into working relationship with a punch opening. A voting choice is recorded in the ballot card by forcing the punch against the card and through the underlying punch opening. As a consequence of this action the punch and the anvil cooperatively shear out a chip from the ballot card. The slits in the rubber mat act as finger extensions to grab the severed chip.
Another prior art vote recorder omits the rubber mat and uses a punch having a telescopic sleeve surrounding the punch tip. Again the ballot card is unscored, and an upper template (or mask plate), an intermediate guide plate and a punch plate are provided. In this device the sleeve forces the ballot card against the surface of the punch plate while the punch tip cooperates with the sharp edge around an adjacent punch plate opening to shear out the chip. The mask plate is fixed, while the guide plate is moved into a registration position during insertion of the ballot card. The openings in the mask plate and guide plate are sufficiently large to permit passage of the punch sleeve.
While the above-described vote recorders of the non-scored ballot type eliminate the hanging chad problem, they introduce another difficulty of a somewhat different type. During the tally process one edge of the ballot card (the edge at that end of the ballot card which is remote from the registration apertures) is positioned against a registration surface in the ballot reader. While the ballot card is in that position radiation (usually infrared radiation) is transmitted through the punched holes for sensing by accurately positioned radiation sensors. In order for the sensors to receive the radiation and correctly record the vote, the punched holes must be accurately positioned relative to the end of the ballot card. In contrast to pre-scored ballot cards the punched holes in non-scored ballot cards may be located at any position permitted by tolerance errors within the vote recorder. Those errors are critically dependent upon the distance between the registration pins and the openings in the punch plate. Also the distance between the registration edge of the ballot card and the region to be punched is likewise critical. This latter distance depends upon the positioning of the registration apertures relative to the registration edge of the ballot. Thus it is necessary to provide ballot cards having precisely positioned registration apertures in order to assure the required punching accuracy. This increases the cost of the ballot cards as well as the cost of the vote recorder. Moreover, even if registration pins and registration apertures are positioned with a fair degree of accuracy, an out-of-tolerance condition may be caused by flexing and compression of the ballot card.